Many promising disease therapies are presently hampered by a short half-life in the systemic circulation. In order to be effective, these therapies may require frequent injections and high dosages which can cause discomfort, inconvenience, and potentially severe adverse reactions. In some cases, these issues may prevent an otherwise beneficial therapy from being used, and afflicted individuals are left to suffer.
The inability to effectively manage the pharmacokinetics of therapeutic molecules causes problems in a number of areas including vaccinations, allergies, and the development of therapeutic proteins and other drugs.
Many vaccines require a multiple doses to develop complete, long-term immunity. Vaccines may require a series of injections over time. This can prove especially problematic for young children who are commonly the recipients of vaccines. The inconvenience and discomfort associated with multi-dose vaccines may lead to non-compliance, potentially negating not only personal immunity, but many of the large scale disease control benefits associated with widespread vaccination as well.
The developing field of allergen immunotherapy involves inducing an allergen tolerance in a patient through managed exposure to the allergen. While many people suffering from a variety of potentially serious allergies could benefit from this treatment, it requires maintaining prolonged exposure to small quantities of allergens which in certain instances can involve weekly or monthly injections for five years or more or sublingual application as often as daily for up to five years.
In the area of protein therapeutics, fast renal clearance and rapid degradation lead to short half-lives in systemic circulation, limiting the usefulness of many compounds that may otherwise benefit patients.